Formulation and characterization of pigmented inkjet inks containing aminopropyl/vinyl/silsesquioxane for jet printing onto polyester fabrics

Abstract

PurposeThe present research aims to manage the formulations of pigment-based inks containing aminopropyl/vinyl/silsesquioxane (APSV) as a pigment binding agent for inkjet printing of polyester as a commercial trial for the printing of polyester as a single-step process.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed formulations incorporated APSV by using the mini-emulsion technique at a low relieving temperature under the thermal initiation or UV radiation of vinyl-terminated groups in APSV. In this study, the storage stability of inks with regard to physical properties was broadly examined. Moreover, the color performance, including colorimetric data, color fixation and fastness properties of printed fabrics was evaluated.FindingsThe results indicated that the inks containing APSV were formulated and were stable in terms of particle size, dispersion stability, surface tension and viscosity over a period of one month and for four freeze/thaw cycles. APSV successfully fixed the pigment-based inkjet inks on polyester fabric and could achieve a significantly higher color performance and degree of fixation than the formulated inks without APSV.Research limitations/implicationsIt could also fulfill all the physical properties of ink prerequisites over storing and eliminating all challenges in improving the performance and utilization of inkjet printing.Practical implicationsAPSV can also be used as a pigment binding agent to formulate inks for inkjet printing of polyester fabrics as the authors’ past examination for inkjet printing of polyester fabrics post-treated with APSV.Social implicationsThis study eliminates the noteworthy challenges in formulating the pigment-based inks for textile applications by incorporation of a binder while keeping up the necessary viscosity profile for a specific print head.Originality/valueThis study addressed all the issues arising from the complex nature and very challenging requirements of inkjet inks.